Medal Recipient Search
Justin M. Flynn, nominated by Eureka Police Department
2021 Class
Awarded on: 09/07/2022
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
At about 3 a.m. on January 26, 2021, Mr. Flynn awoke to a series of loud explosions. He checked outside and saw a house about one-half mile from his was on fire and quickly drove to his neighbors’ residence, arriving before firefighters. Two of the residents had made it out of the house but an elderly disabled woman was trapped inside. Because the front of the house was engulfed in flames, Mr. Flynn breached the rear door and made two attempts to reach the trapped victim, using the flashlight on his phone as he shouted out to the woman. But there was no response and the smoke made it impossible to see or breathe for any length of time inside the house. While exiting the second time, Mr. Flynn saw Eureka Police Officer Timothy L. Shipp, who had just arrived on scene. Mr. Flynn advised him that the remaining occupant was disabled and that he had not been able to find her. Officer Shipp and Mr. Flynn now entered the house together through the back door, the smoke choking them and making it impossible to see. Crawling on their hands and knees, Officer Shipp shouted for the woman, and this time she responded. Shipp told her to keep calling out so he could find her through the smoke. Crawling through the noxious smoke, Officer Shipp reached the woman on the floor of a room Mr. Flynn had not been able to reach previously. Officer Shipp dragged the woman toward the back door. Working together, Officer Shipp and Mr. Flynn got the woman out of the house to safety. Throughout the difficult ordeal, Mr. Flynn performed bravely, without concern for his own safety, and helped save a woman’s life.
Joshua James-Troutt and Travis Terry, nominated by Callaway County Sheriff’s Office
2021 Class
Awarded on: 09/07/2022
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On the morning of October 17, 2021, Callaway County Sheriff’s Deputy John Nielsen responded to a call for a rollover crash in the area of U.S. Highway 54 and State Highway J. As he approached the intersection, Deputy Nielsen was waved over by two stopped motorists. They pointed to the crash scene and then to a man 200 yards away who was walking directly into traffic on westbound Highway 54. Deputy Nielsen watched as the man was almost hit by a tractor trailer. Deputy Nielsen drove to the man’s location with his emergency lights activated, stopped, and instructed him to place his hands on his patrol vehicle’s bumper. The man, who was about 6-foot-5 and weighed over 200 pounds, called for the deputy to shoot him, refused to comply, and walked back into traffic. Deputy Nielsen attempted to restrain the man, but he resisted and eventually wound up on top of the deputy’s chest by the side of the highway. With the deputy pinned to the ground and the wind knocked out of him, the suicidal man tried to get the deputy’s gun from his holster. At this point, two other motorists arrived on the scene. Joshua James-Troutt was driving westbound Highway 54 and pulled over when he saw the suspect resisting the deputy. Travis Terry had been driving on eastbound Highway 54 when he stopped and crossed the eastbound and westbound traffic lanes to assist. James-Troutt stated he heard Terry say, “He’s going for his gun.” At that point both men grabbed hold of the suspect and together, with great effort, managed to pull him off Deputy Nielsen. This allowed Deputy Nielsen to get to his knees long enough to get his Taser and stun the suspect, who then, finally, placed his hands behind his back and was handcuffed. With a suicidal man struggling to get a deputy sheriff’s gun along a busy highway, Joshua James-Troutt and Travis Terry bravely put their own safety at risk to assist Sheriff's Deputy Nielsen in taking the man into custody.
Bryan Yarbrough, nominated by Bolivar City Fire Department
2021 Class
Awarded on: 09/07/2022
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On the night of November 19, 2021, Bryan Yarbrough was driving back to a hospital, where his fiancé had just delivered a baby hours earlier, when he noticed the roof of a house was on fire. Because of the late hour and because there were cars in the driveway, he stopped and knocked on the door. There was no response, but he could hear animals inside so he opened the unlocked door. While looking for the animals, he found two adults who were asleep in bed. He woke them and then helped get them and their pets out of the house and called 911. After everyone was out of the residence the fire grew considerably and firefighters battling the blaze had to exit the structure because of concern that the roof would collapse. Uninterested in any recognition, Mr. Yarbrough left the scene to return to the hospital. He was later recognized by the City of Bolivar with a “Bryan Yarbrough Day” proclamation from the mayor.
Kurtis H. Brown, nominated by Missouri State Highway Patrol
2020 Class
Awarded on: 09/01/2021
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On May 27, 2020, an armored truck accidentally traveled off the right side of Route J in Camden County, overcorrected, crossed the centerline and slid off the left side of the road. It then crashed into a large tree, which caused the armored truck to catch fire. The tremendous impact with the tree also jammed the doors shut. The driver and passenger, unable to open the doors and surrounded by thick bulletproof glass were trapped within the vehicle, which was filling with smoke as the fire grew. Southwest Electric Cooperative staking technician Kurtis Brown was returning to his office in Preston when he noticed a truck stopped in the middle of the road and a distressed woman. She told him two men were trapped inside the burning truck off to the side of the road. As the woman spoke with a 911 operator, Brown went to the armored truck. The passenger, who was in better shape than the driver, said “help us out, we can’t get out.” Brown rushed to his work truck and retrieved a hammer and a fire extinguisher. When he returned and told the passenger he planned to break the glass, his heart sank when he was told it was bulletproof glass and the truck was armored. The hammer had no effect on the windows. Brown used the fire extinguisher but the fire still burned out of control. Brown next tried to use his hammer to beat back the areas where the truck body was jamming the passenger door. As he worked his way down the door, the two men inside kept pushing on the door, trying to unlatch it. Finally, as the flames engulfed more of the truck and the smoke grew worse, the men inside forced the door open. One of the rescued men said of the resourceful and unrelenting Kurtis Brown, “He saved two lives that day.”
Lendon J. Blanchard, Evan G. Clements and Christopher A. Runion, nominated by Lamar Police Department
2020 Class
Awarded on: 09/01/2021
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On the evening of Aug. 1, 2020, a shooting occurred in a Carthage hotel. A gunman had killed one victim and shot another before stealing a car at knifepoint and fleeing the area. There was an extensive search. Just before 8 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 2, Lamar Police Officer John Simpson responded to a call for a suspicious person in the First Christian Church of Lamar. A man meeting the description of the killer was inside the church. Officer Simpson attempted to detain the man, giving the command to place his hands behind his back and turn around. Instead, the suspected murderer responded, “I’m not going back, I can’t go back.” He then reached inside the waistband of his pants and pulled out a knife. Officer Simpson tried to restrain the man, and they crashed into a bookshelf and then to the floor where they continued to struggle. Simpson sustained a cut to his hand. Church members Lendon Blanchard, Evan Clements and Christopher Runion all immediately went to the officer’s aid. All three assisted the officer as he struggled with the suspected killer, grabbing the assailant’s arms to prevent further injury to the officer. Despite the risks to themselves, Blanchard, Clements and Runion bravely and selflessly came to the aid of Officer Simpson and prevented further injury to the officer. With their assistance, Officer Simpson was able to take the murder suspect into custody.
Jayden Groves, nominated by St. Louis Fire Department
2020 Class
Awarded on: 09/01/2021
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On Aug. 8, 2020, a 22-month-old boy wandered away from a large family gathering in the Hyde Park area of St. Louis. His family began searching for him frantically. The toddler’s 11-year-old brother, Jayden Groves, knowing that his little brother liked to play in water, immediately headed toward a nearby pond. When he discovered his brother floating face down, he jumped into the pond and pulled out his brother. As a relative began providing CPR, Jayden raced to the nearby St. Louis Fire Department Engine House No. 8, which he had visited many times in the past. He pounded on the front door. Firefighter Dave Rodriguez ran with Jayden to the scene. The little boy was still unconscious and unresponsive. The firefighter began rescue breaths until Engine 8 arrived and assisted with ventilation. The child showed signs of improvement during transport to a hospital, which was assisted with an escort from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The boy has made a full recovery, all because of the calm, mature and decisive actions taken by 11-year-old Jayden in a stressful emergency situation.
Miles A. Spandle, nominated by Lee’s Summit Police Department
2020 Class
Awarded on: 09/01/2021
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On Aug. 9, 2020, Lee’s Summit Police and other emergency responders were dispatched to a vehicle on fire on eastbound Highway 50 in Lee’s Summit. When Lee’s Summit Police Sergeant Mike Murray arrived on scene, he found Miles Spandle, in medical scrubs, already on the scene treating a victim who was in serious condition. Spandle, a St. Luke’s Hospital emergency room trauma nurse, had been driving westbound on the divided highway. When he saw the burning vehicle, he immediately parked his car, grabbed his emergency trauma kit and crossed the grass median to the eastbound lanes. The injured driver was in the driver seat, confused and unable to walk. The fire was spreading around him. Spandle pulled the driver out of the vehicle and then 50 feet away from the fire. He bandaged the victim’s head and was stabilizing his neck when Sergeant Murray arrived. Spandle, Sergeant Murray and Officer David Arnold next picked up the driver and carried him farther away from the fire and placed him behind a police vehicle for additional protection from the intensifying fire. Spandle continued to provide care to the victim until EMS arrived. Sergeant Murray believes had Miles Spandle not stopped and pulled the driver from his burning vehicle and provided emergency care, the victim would have sustained more severe injuries or even died.
Brody J. von Brethorst, nominated by Cedar County Sheriff’s Office
2020 Class
Awarded on: 09/01/2021
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On Sept. 5, 2020, a 17-year-old boy jumped from a 40-foot bluff into Stockton Lake, landed face first and was knocked unconscious, and disappeared into the water. First responders were alerted but with the victim sinking in about 12 feet of water, time was of the essence. Brody von Brethorst, a student at Missouri Valley College, saw what had happened and immediately set out to attempt a rescue. Von Brethorst raced to the location where he thought the man hit the water. Von Brethorst dove to the bottom of the lake, attempting to find the victim, but was hampered by low visibility. He surfaced and called for a pair of goggles from the gathering crowd. After someone threw him a pair of goggles, von Brethorst dove in a second time. This time he found the victim and pulled him to the surface. With help from others, von Brethorst got the lifeless victim into a boat that had joined the search. The victim had no pulse, but after about five minutes of performing CPR on the boat, several nurses, who were enjoying Labor Day weekend at the lake, managed to revive the victim. Things remained very much touch and go. The victim was intubated on a helicopter flight to a hospital and put on a ventilator once he arrived at the hospital. Five days later, the victim was released from the hospital. In a highly stressful emergency situation, Brody von Brethorst had the ideal combination of inner calm, stamina, quick-thinking and determination to save the young victim’s life.
Jason C. Gamm, Rick L. Shannon and Wesley W. Teague, nominated by the Trenton Police Department
2019 Class
Awarded on: 10/13/2020
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On June 14, 2019, Trenton Police Department Officer Jasmine E. Diab was transporting a prisoner to a mental health evaluation. During transport, near Winston, Mo., the prisoner assaulted Officer Diab, and in a struggle the officer was shot in the abdomen and the prisoner was shot in the hand. The prisoner tried to take control of the vehicle and, positioned on top of the officer, attempted to drive away from the scene. Officer Diab continued to fight the prisoner. Several passing civilian motorists realized the officer was in extreme danger. Jason Gamm and Rick Shannon heard one of the gunshots. Shannon retrieved a gun from his vehicle and gave it to Gamm. Gamm and Wesley Teague approached the rear of the police vehicle. Gamm carefully moved around the vehicle to the driver’s door and managed to pull the prisoner from the vehicle. The prisoner continued to fight. At this point, Teague grabbed the prisoner’s legs with his arms. Shannon assisted holding him on the ground. All three civilians held the prisoner until law enforcement arrived and took him into custody. Officer Diab was hospitalized and continues to recover. There is no doubt that if not for the heroic actions of Gamm, Shannon and Teague, who acted without concern for their own safety, Officer Diab might have been killed.
Thomas E. Hutsler II, nominated by the Platte County Sheriff’s
2019 Class
Awarded on: 10/13/2020
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On July 9, 2019, Thomas Hutsler was at a motor vehicle licensing office in Kansas City, in Platte County, when there was a commotion at the counter. A woman in a loud threatening voice told a clerk, “What do I need to do, show you my gun?” As she stormed out of the office past Hutsler, he overheard her say, “You haven’t seen the last of me.” Recognizing the danger, Hutsler instructed his son to remain inside as he headed to the parking lot. Hutsler then observed the woman pull a handgun out of her handbag. She fired the gun in the parking lot and then headed for the license office. Hutsler blocked the office door and told her she was not reentering the building. During a verbal confrontation, the woman brandished her weapon before placing it back in her bag and heading toward her vehicle. Hutsler warned other people in the parking lot to beware of the armed woman. The license office went on lockdown. Hutsler started his truck and maneuvered it to block the woman’s car. At this point, an off-duty officer drew his gun and, when the woman exited her vehicle, he ordered her to get on the ground. Hutsler used the officer’s phone to relay the events to a dispatcher. The woman refused the officer’s commands; Hutsler got behind her, wrapped his arms around her and took her to the ground. Kansas City Police soon arrived. Police say the woman’s gun was loaded with a bullet in the chamber. In a highly dangerous situation in a public area with many lives in the balance, Thomas Hutsler acted with fearlessness and daring to protect his fellow citizens from harm.